The Lottery has stopped a grant towards the lavishly funded yearly SATMA awards. Illustration: Lisa Nelson (SATMA logo superimposed around first illustration)
From 2019 to 2022 the South African Traditional Songs Awards acquired about R16-million from the Lottery.
Even so the Lottery has withheld payment on the 2023 grant adhering to an investigation.
The NLC has asked the Distinctive Investigating Device to probe alleged “double dipping” in many years where by funders aside from the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
The dimensions of funding for the once-a-year two night celebration is astonishing.
The Mpumalanga authorities has funded the awards with about R41-million right after it “was awarded the right” to host the SATMA awards for three yrs, commencing in the 2020/21 economic yr.
This has actually been Together with Lottery funding.
The Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) is refusing to pay a R1.2-million grant it originally permitted for an yearly standard audio awards ceremony. Precisely the same occasion also received tens of millions of rand within the Mpumalanga provincial governing administration.
From 2019 to 2022 the NLC awarded various grants totalling Virtually R16.four-million for the Mageza Heritage Basis, the organisers from the yearly South African Traditional Tunes Awards (SATMA).
However it halted the payment of the 2023 grant right after an internal investigation.
GroundUp has uncovered enormous corruption while in the NLC that befell till the earlier board and management was replaced in 2022. The new NLC Management is aiming to cleanse up the corruption with the earlier.
The NLC’s investigation focused on the two the 2023 funding and previously grants awarded to Mageza to phase the awards. The investigation also probed a payment of around R718,000, allegedly compensated from Lottery funds to G4 Brothers, of which Dumisani Gobe, the founding father of the SATMA awards, can be a director.
Asked if Mageza paid out G4 a licencing or some other charges to phase the awards, Goba claimed: “G4 was commissioned to accomplish a creation of the function and bought paid for the people providers, like to control and produce the principle celebration, roadshows, etcetera. I'm the founding father of the SATMA Awards; I am the a single who have to be compensated for developing the concept according to affordability and what Mageza decides.”
The NLC has handed a dossier of its investigation to the Special Investigating Device (SIU). It's questioned the SIU to analyze four different lottery-funded jobs that acquired grants among Oct 2020 and will 2023, in addition to the payment to G4 Brothers.
The NLC has also questioned the SIU to probe alleged “double dipping” in several years where funders besides the NLC also chipped in to assist fund the awards.
This includes a grant of R400,000 with the Countrywide Heritage Council and just around R62,000 from “SABC Cell” in 2020 - exactly the same economic 12 months where the party received almost R2.6-million in lottery funding and R13.five-million from the Mpumalanga Department of Society, Athletics and Recreation (MDCSR).
MDCSR funded the awards for the tune of more than R41-million following it “was awarded the right” to host the SATMA awards for 3 many years, commencing inside the 2020/21 monetary year.
The Mpumalanga governing administration’s funding for SATMA in excess of that period was substantially better than grants to any other organisation for cultural assignments and situations.
The MDSCR gave R3.five-million to SATMA inside the 2019/20 fiscal 12 months in advance of ramping up its contribution after signing the agreement to host the awards above the subsequent 3 yrs.
The overall finances submitted to your NLC when Mageza utilized for your disputed 2023 SATMA funding was R1.two-million. But of the, only R500,000 was allocated for the particular staging of your event. Other line merchandise from the finances incorporated R400,000 for “personnel salaries and Added benefits”, R200,000 for “stipends” and R100,000 for “travel.”
The awards were being held on 15 December at the Durban Intercontinental หวย Conference Centre. Mageza says it urgently needs the blocked grant to pay for the event’s assistance providers.
The SATMA awards, which ended up very first held in 2006, are staged around two evenings and it truly is unclear how the tens of tens of millions in grants from your NLC, MDCSR and various funders were invested.
Desmond Msomi, the chairman of Mageza, did not respond to particular queries from GroundUp, including the cost of staging a SATMA awards ceremony.
Alternatively, he explained: “Your inquiries are observed. Having said that, we happen to be advised via the NLC this issue is becoming investigated via the SIU. For this reason, we can not reply to your queries until we're recommended which the investigation is concluded and the quantity owed continues to be paid out to Mageza.”
Immediately after Mpumalanga “received the proper” to host the awards for three a long time, the then provincial Tradition, Sport and Recreation MEC, Lindiwe Ntshalintshali, described it as “a boon” for your province.
“Hosting the SATMA Awards has good economic spinoffs with the Mpumalanga coffers and Additionally, it talks towards the Office’s mandate of promoting social cohesion.”